The Arab Israeli gunman who fatally shot three people on New Year’s Day was killed in a shootout with Israeli police on Friday in Arara, an Arab Israeli village where his family lives. On the afternoon of January 1, Nashat Milhem opened fire outside of the Simta bar on Tel Aviv’s busy Dizengoff Street, killing Alon Bahal, 26, and Shimon Ruimi, 30. After taking a cab to north Tel Aviv, Milhem then killed the cab driver, Amin Shaaban. The Palestinian terrorist group Hamas praised Milhem; a spokesman of the organization said, “Hamas mourns the death of the martyred hero Nashat Milhem…who carried out an attack in the heart of the enemy, steadily and creatively…Nashat exemplifies the free Palestinian, who sacrificed his life in the defense of his nation.” The group also warned that this “was not the end of the story, and the coming period will prove this.” The terrorist organization Palestinian Islamic Jihad vowed, “Israel will pay the price for this crime.” A Channel 2 report indicated that Israeli security officials are investigating possible ISIS ties. Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon called Milhem a terrorist on Friday and suggested the possibility that he was inspired by ISIS.

Milhem’s father, a volunteer police officer, had previously urged Israeli police to capture his son as soon as possible and he told his lawyer to reveal his son’s location. The killer’s death comes after a week-long manhunt in Tel Aviv, villages near his hometown, an Arab village in the Triangle, and the West Bank. Milhem served a five-year prison term beginning in 2007 for attacking an Israeli soldier with a screwdriver and attempting to take the soldier’s weapon.

The United States Treasury Department sanctioned a Lebanese businessman for his support of the Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah, marking the first application of the Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Act of 2015, The Hillreported on Thursday. The act passed bothhouses of Congress unanimously, and was signed into law by President Obama last month.

The Treasury Department is targeting Ali Yousseff Charara and his telecommunications company, Spectrum Investment Group Holding SAL, for providing millions of dollars to the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah through material and financial contributions. Charara and his company’s U.S. based assets have been frozen, and Americans are now barred from doing business with either party.

The Treasury Department issued a statement announcing the sanctions and elaborating on Charara’s support for Hezbollah:

In addition to Charara’s facilitation of commercial investments on behalf of Hizballah, Charara has also worked on oil ventures in Iraq with Hizballah member Adham Tabaja and Hizballah financial supporter Kassem Hejeij, both of whom were previously designated by Treasury. Treasury designated Tabaja in June 2015 for his support to Hizballah through commercial ventures in Lebanon and Iraq. Tabaja has maintained direct ties to senior Hizballah officials and Hizballah’s operational component, the Islamic Jihad. Treasury also designated Hejeij at the same time for his role in facilitating Hizballah’s financial and commercial activities, including for opening bank accounts on behalf of Hizballah and providing credit to its procurement companies. Additionally, Charara has extensive business interests in the telecommunications industry in West Africa.

Adam J. Szubin, acting under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, explained, “Hizballah relies upon accomplices in the business community to place, manage, and launder its terrorist funds.” He added, “We are committed to exposing and disrupting these networks to pressure Hizballah’s finances and degrade its ability to foment violence in Lebanon, Syria, and across the region.”

In September, Iran announced that it was boosting its funding of Hezbollah and the Gaza-based terrorist group Hamas in anticipation of the sanctions relief it is expecting to receive from the nuclear deal.

In a statement, Rubio said, “These financial sanctions are an important step to crack down on Iran’s terrorist proxy Hezbollah by denying them critical financing they need to carry out their plots against America, Israel and our allies throughout the world.” Rubio is running for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. (via TheTower.org)

A study from Israel and Germany proves that seven commonly added ingredients in processed foods weaken intestinal resistance to bacteria, toxins and other harmful elements. This weakening increases the risk of autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes, celiac, lupus, multiple sclerosis, autoimmune hepatitis and Crohn’s, among many others that cause the body to attack its own tissues. The study was led by Prof. Aaron Lerner, of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology Faculty of Medicine and Carmel Medical Center in Haifa, and Dr. Torsten Matthias of the Aesku-Kipp Institute in Germany. Their results, published recently in Autoimmune Reviews, provide an important clue to the mystery of why the incidence of autoimmune diseases is increasing worldwide and especially in Western countries. “In recent decades there has been a decrease in incidence of infectious diseases, but at the same time there has been an increase in the incidence of allergic diseases, cancer and autoimmune diseases,” said Lerner. “Since the weight of genetic changes is insignificant in such a short period, the scientific community is searching for the causes at the environmental level.” Their study showed circumstantially that at least seven common food additives weaken the tight-junctions: sugars, salt, emulsifiers (used in bakery, confectionary, dairy, fats and oils, sauces, butter and margarine, ice cream, cream liqueurs, meat, coffee, gum, beverages and chocolate), organic solvents (such as hexane, used to produce soy oil, and others added as antioxidants, stabilizers, preservatives and flavorings), gluten, microbial transglutaminase (a food protein “glue” added to processed meat, fish, dairy and bakery items) and nanometric particles (used to improve the taste, color, uniformity and texture of foods, as well as in food packaging). (via Israel21c)